Senior Frontend Engineer

React, Complex Editors & Production Web Platforms

Mumbai (On-site) | Full-time | 5-7 years

Unico Connect is an AI-first technology partner that builds custom mobile, web, and AI products for clients across multiple geographies. We are hiring a Senior Frontend Engineer who will own the frontend architecture of complex, interactive web platforms across customer engagements, with hands-on responsibility for editor surfaces, real-time interactions, and performance-critical paths.

The mandatory requirement for this role is hands-on production experience building complex interactive web applications in React, ideally including editor surfaces, canvas-based interactions, or applications that render output dynamically from structured data. The role is hands-on and architectural. Expect to design frontend architecture, lead a small group of frontend engineers, build the hardest parts yourself, set engineering standards, and partner closely with designers, backend engineers, and AI engineers. A typical week includes an architecture decision on state management for a new module, hands-on implementation of a complex interaction, a code review session with mid-level engineers, and a working session with the designer on a new editor flow.

• Frontend architecture: Own the frontend architecture across customer engagements. Make and document decisions on framework choices, state management, rendering strategy, build tooling, and component model.
• Complex interactive UI: Lead by example on the hardest parts of the product: editor surfaces, canvas-based interactions, drag-and-resize, inline editing, live previews, diff viewers, and real-time collaborative state.
• Rendering from structured data: Build UI that renders dynamically from intermediate representations or schema-driven definitions, with the rigour required for predictable output and round-trip editing.
• State management at scale: Design state architecture for complex applications using Redux, Zustand, Jotai, or equivalent. Handle async state, optimistic updates, undo/redo, and cross-component coordination.
• Performance and rendering: Profile and optimise rendering, bundle size, time-to-interactive, and runtime memory. Set performance budgets and enforce them in CI.
• Testing strategy: Set the standard for testing across unit, integration, visual regression, and end-to-end tiers (Jest, RTL, Playwright, Chromatic, Percy).
• Code quality and mentorship: Run code reviews, define conventions, mentor mid-level engineers, and raise the engineering bar across the pod.
• AI-assisted engineering discipline: Use Claude, Cursor, and similar tools day to day. Set the standard for prompts, patterns, AI-assisted code review, and validation of AI-generated frontend code.
• Client engagement: Represent Unico Connect in technical conversations with customers. Defend architectural choices, communicate trade-offs, and manage scope with stakeholders.

• Hands-on production experience building complex interactive web applications in React (mandatory). Must have personally built and shipped at least one complex interactive web application in production, including non-trivial interaction work (editors, canvases, real-time collaboration, schema-driven rendering, or equivalent). Standard CRUD applications alone do not qualify.
• 5 to 7 years of professional frontend engineering experience. Candidates with slightly less time but demonstrably stronger ownership and project depth are welcome to apply.
• Deep proficiency in JavaScript, TypeScript, and React. Strong with hooks, context, suspense, and modern patterns. Comfort with Next.js (SSR, SSG, app router) and Vite.
• Editor or canvas experience. Hands-on with at least one of Slate, Lexical, ProseMirror, tldraw, react-flow, Monaco, or equivalent. Working knowledge of diff viewers and visual representation of state changes.
• State management depth. Production experience with Redux, Zustand, Jotai, or equivalent at scale. Comfortable with complex async state and cross-cutting concerns.
• Build tooling and performance. Hands-on with Vite, Webpack, Turbopack, or equivalent. Strong profiling instincts and a track record of measurable performance wins.
• Testing fluency. Jest, React Testing Library, Playwright or Cypress. Visual regression testing with Chromatic, Percy, or equivalent.
• AI-assisted engineering experience. Daily use of Claude, Cursor, Copilot, or equivalent in production work. Strong discipline for reviewing and validating AI-generated frontend code.
• Accessibility fluency. WCAG 2.1 AA applied in shipped work.
• Excellent written and spoken English, with experience working directly with international clients. Confident in stakeholder conversations and architectural defence.

Nice to have: CRDT-based collaboration (Yjs, Automerge); compiler or AST tooling exposure; WebAssembly; design system architecture across multiple products; prior work on complex editor or canvas-based products such as design tools, collaborative editors, or visual development environments.